RESEARCH ARTICLE Trends in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in People with and without Diabetes Mellitus: A Middle Eastern Cohort Study

Aims/Hypothesis: To investigate secular trends in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors during a decade of follow-up in a Middle Eastern cohort, and to compare observed trends between diabetic and non-diabetic populations. Methods: In a population of 6181 participants (2622 males and 3559 females), diabetes status and CVD risk factors were evaluated in 4 study phases from 1999– 2011. 1045 subjects had type 2 diabetes mellitus at baseline and 5136 participants were diabetes-free. To examine the trends of CVD risk factors, generalized estimation equation models were constructed. The interaction between the diabetes status and each phase of the study was checked in a separate model. Results: During the follow-up period diabetic females significantly gained better control of their blood pressure, serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol and general and central obesity measures compared to non-diabetic counterparts, although 60 % of them had high BP and 64 % had high serum LDL-C levels till the end of the study. Diabetic males however, experienced significantly better contro